Filing cabinet construction

March 4, 1958

S. P. CARD

FILING CABINET CONSTRUCTION

2,825,614

<img file="US2825614A_D0001.tif" />

ATTORNEYS

March 4, 1958

S. P. CARD

2,825,614

FILING CABINET CONSTRUCTION

<img file="US2825614A_D0002.tif" />

ATTORNEYS

United States Patent Office ²&gt;⁸²⁵&gt;⁶¹⁴

Patented Mar. 4. 1958

2,825,614

FILING CABINET CONSTRUCTION

Samssel P. Card, Canton, Ohio, assignor to Diebold, Incorporated, Canton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio

Application May 4, 1955, Serial No. 505,873

Claims. (CI. 312—111) .My invention relates generally to improvements in filing cabinet construction and more particularly to a filing case and tie clip construction which provides means tor securing together a series of filing cases to form vertical stacks, with additional means for securing the various stacks side to side and back to back to form an assembled filing cabinet.

Various prior constructions of filing cabinets have been provided consisting cf a series of filing cases stacked one above another with various complicated means for securing said cases in stacked position. Further, such prior constructions have provided means for securing adjacent stacks of filing cases side to side to form an assembled filing cabinet.

In one such construction, spaced downwardly rearwardly extending flanges are formed near the rear edge of the bottoms thereof, with said flanges engaging in spaced apertures formed in the top of the filing case positioned therebeneath. Further, spaced apertures are formed in the bottoms of these filing cases spaced rearwardly from the front edge thereof, with said apertures receiving upwardly rearwardly extending flange members formed on the top wall of the case positioned therebeneath. These last mentioned flanges are merely received through the apertures and extend rearwardly in a horizontal plane spaced upwardly from the inner surface of the bottom wall of the next above case, with flat key members or clips having spaced horizontally extending tabs thereon being received beneath said flanges, thereby securing said flanges within the confines of the case above.

Stacks of these cases so secured may be further secured side to side to form a filing cabinet assembly by use of a similarly constructed clip, as used to secure the cases one above another. One tab of said clip may be received in one of the upwardly rearwardly extending flange members formed in the top wall of each of the uppermost cases, with the body portion of said clip extending between said cases, that is, the tabs of the clip are engaged with the nearest adjacent flange members of the uppermost adjacent cases.

One of the principal disadvantages of these prior constructions is that in the manufacture of various sizes of filing cases, it is necessary to provide a plurality of sizes of tie clips for securing the cases one above the other and for securing the cases in side to side assembled position. Since each tie clip engages each of two spaced flanges for securing the cases one above another, and since the clip for securing stacks of the cases side to side must also engage these same spaced flanges in the uppermost cases, it is impossible to maintain the same spacing between the pairs of flanges in a single case and tire nearest adjacent flanges of adjacent cases. Thus, for different width cases, it is necessary to either maintain the spaced flanges of each single case of equal spacing, or else maintain the spacing between the nearest adjacent flanges of adjacent cases equal, and it is therefore necessary to provide at least one set of different sized clips for each size of filling case being manufactured.

A further disadvantage of this type of construction is that the drawers of the filing cases must be removed in 5 order to position the tie clips securing the various cases one above another, since the clip is positioned above the top surface cf the bottom wall of each case. A still further disadvantage is that since the tie clips and tabs thereon are flat and are received flatwise engaged 10 with the upwardly rearwardly extending flanges of the case therebeneath, it is necessary to provide complicated engagement means on the body portions of these clips and in the tabs thereof in order to retain the clip properly positioned.

It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a filing cabinet construction which eliminates the disadvantages of prior constructions.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a filing cabinet construction in which each filing 20 case has means permanently positioned thereon for securing a plurality of said cases one above the other in a single vertical stack.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a filing cabinet construction in which the same size 25 tie clips may be used for securing stacks of the filing cases side, to side regardless of the size of the filing cases.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a filing cabinet construction in which the same size tie clips may be used for securing stacks of the 30 filing cases thereof back to back regardless of the size of said filing cases.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a filing cabinet construction in which the tie clips used to secure the filing cases thereof back to back serve the 35 dual purpose of also securing stacks of said filing cases side to side.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a filing cabinet construction in which the tie clips thereof may be positioned at the front portions of 40 the filing cases thereof for tying stacks of said cases side to side and which clips engage a portion of the same means which may be used to secure the filing cases of each stack one above the other.

It is an additional object of the present invention to 45 provide a filing cabinet construction in which the tie clips thereof may be positioned at the front portions of the .filing cases thereof for securing stacks of said cases side to side, which clips when engaged with the front portions of said cases serve the dual purpose of ₅₀ securing the stacks of cases side to side and also form front stop members engageable by the back portions of the filing case drawers, thereby preventing said drawers from being accidentally pulled completely out of said cases.

Finally, it. is an object of the present invention to provide a filing cabinet construction which accomplishes all of the above objects in a simple manner, but yet which may be economically manufactured.

These and other objects are accomplished by the parts, 6q constructions, arrangements, combinations and subcombinations comprising the present invention, the nature of which is set forth in the following general statement, a preferred embodiment of which—illustrative of the best mode, of which applicant has contemplated applying the gg principles—is set forth in the following description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and which is particularly and distinctly pointed out and set forth in the appended claims forming a part hereof.

. In general terms, the improved filing cabinet construc₇₀ tion comprising the present invention may be stated as including a plurality of box-like filing cases having horizontally slidable drawers and being adapted to be secured

2,825,614 one above another, side by side and back to back to form a filing cabinet assembly.

Each of said filing cases is constructed with a closed top, bottom and sides and with a closed recessed back end. Further, the top and bottom, because of the recessed back end, form horizontally rearwardly extending flange portions at the back ends thereof.

Still further, each case top is provided with a pair of spaced front and rear apertures formed therein, with each of the apertures being equally spaced from its respective corner. A pair of spaced tabs is formed extending downwardly from each of the case bottoms, with said tabs being vertically aligned with the top front apertures of said case.

An upwardly forwardly extending flange member is provided connected to each case top extending upwardly from the back edge thereof and having the forward portion thereof spaced upwardly from said top. Finally, single tie clips are provided, each having spaced downwardly extending tabs formed thereon, and a connecting body portion.

To form an assembled filing cabinet, a series of the above described filing cases are positioned one above another forming at least two adjacent vertical stacks of said cases. These cases are positioned so that the bottom tabs of one case are engaged in the front apertures of the case positioned therebelow and with the rearwardly extending bottom flange portion of said one case engaged with the upwardly forwardly extending flange member of said case positioned therebelow. Further, the tie clips are engaged between adjacent sides of adjacent cases in said stacks, with the flanges of a first clip received in the nearest adjacent front apertures of adjacent cases and the tabs of a second clip received in the nearest adjacent rear apertures of said cases and with the clip body portions extending between said cases.

Also the filing cabinet construction preferably includes double tie clips for securing stacks of the filing cases side by side and back to back. Each of said double clips is provided with a body portion having pairs of spaced tabs extending downwardly from either end thereof.

These double tie clips are engaged between adjacent rear comers of a first pair of stacks of filing cases positioned side by side and a second pair of stacks of filing cases positioned side by side with the back ends thereof positioned adjacent the back ends of said first stacks. One of the tabs of each double tie clip is received in each of the four adjacent rear corner apertures in the tops of the four adjacent filing cases, thereby retaining the stacks of filing cases in assembled position forming a filing cabinet assembly.

When using double tie clips for securing stacks of filing cases both side by side and back to back, the single tin clips are still used to secure the front portions of adjacent cases side by side, as described above. That is, the single tie clips are always used to secure the front portions of adjacent filing cases side by side, whether single or double clips are used at the back portions thereof.

Further, the tabs of said single tie clips at the front portions of the filing cases extend downwardly into the confines of these filing cases, thereby serving the second purpose of forming a stop member engageable by the back portions of the filing case drawers, limiting the horizontal outward movement of said drawer back portions and preventing the drawers from being accidentally pulled completely out of the filing cases. The tabs of the tie clips received in the rear apertures in the filing cases, whether these tie clips are the single or double construction, extend downwardly into the confines of the filing cases closely adjacent the recessed rear end walls thereof so that these tabs do not interfere with the movement of the filing case drawers.

By way of example, an embodiment of the filing cabinet construction comprising the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof wherein like numerals indicate similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a series of stacks of the filing case and tie clip construction of the present invention mounted on a base member to form a filing cabinet unit;

Fig. 2, a bottom plan view of the filing case construction of the present invention with a part thereof broken away;

Fig. 3, a vertical section of the filing case construction locking in the direction of the arrows 3-—3 in Fig. 2, with a part thereof broken away and with the drawer thereof shown in side relation;

Fig. 4, a fragmentary vertical section similar to Fig. 3 showing the upper portion of one filing case and the lower portion of a second filing case stacked thereabove, with the drawer of the lower case shown in cross-section and pulled to its maximum outward position;

Fig. 5, a perspective view of a single tie clip of the present invention for securing stacks cf filing cases side by side; and

Fig. 6, a perspective view of a double tie clip of the present invention for securing stacks of filing cases side by side and back to back.

The filing cabinet construction comprising the present invention includes a filing case construction, generally indicated at 10, a single tie clip construction, generally indicated at 11 and a double tie clip construction, generally indicated at 12. The filing cases and tie clips arc preferably formed from relatively thin gauge sheet steel or the like, and the various parts cf the filing cases are preferablyassembled by welding or other usual fastening means.

The filing case construction 10 is comprised cf a boxlike outer case member, generally indicated at 13, having the usual sides 14 and 15, top 16, bottom 17, and is preferably provided with a recessed back end 18. The front end 19 is preferably completely open and is preferably provided with a relatively thick spacing strip member 20 affixed to the inner surface of the case member 13 abutting the open end 19 and extending rearwardly thereof completely around the inner perimeter of said open ent’.

The filing case construction 10 further includes a horizontally slidable drawer member, generally indicated at 21, having the usual drawer bottom 22, front end 23, back end member 24 and spaced side members 25. Front and back end members 23 and 24 have slightly smaller outside dimensions than the inner dimensions of spacing strip member 20, so that these end members may slidably pass through spaced strip member 20.

The front end member 23 is preferably provided with the usual ring-like handle member 26 pivotally connected thereto and the usual card holder 27. Further, the drawer bottom 22, at the back or inner end thereof, is provided with downwardly projecting spacer or leg means 28, so that when the drawer 21 is telescopically received in the case member 13, as best seen in Fig. 3, the spacing strip member 20 and the leg means 23 retain the drawer bottom 22 spaced upwardly from the case bottom 17, so that the drawer 21 is easily horizontally slidable within case member 13.

Each case member top 16 is provided with spaced front apertures 29 and 30 and spaced rear apertures 31 and 32, with each of said apertures being equally spaced from its respective corner of the top 16. That is, front apertures 29 and 30 are spaced rearwardly from the front edge of top 16, the same distance that rear apertures 31 and 32 are spaced forwardly from the back end of top 16. Further, apertures 29 and 31 are spaced inwardly from their respective side of top 16, the same distance that apertures 30 and 32 are spaced inwardly from their respective side of top 16.

Thus, as seen in Fig. 1, each case member 13 is provided with an aperture in each of the top corner portions thereof, so that when these filing cases are positioned side by side and back to back, as shown in Fig. 1, the aper2,825, tures of each respective filing case will be an equal predetermined distance apart from side to side and an equal predetermined distance apart back to back. Further, these apertures may be placed in the same relative positions in reference to the front sides and backs of these fil- 5 ing cases despite the particular measurements of the group of filing cases to be manufactured.

As before stated, it is preferred that the back end 13 of the case member 13 is recessed so that the sides 14 and 15, top 16 and bottom 17 thereof extend rearwardly from 10 back 18, thereby preferably forming the top rearwardly extending flange 33, the bottom rearwardly extending flange 34, with similar flanges being formed at the sides thereof. For expediency in manufacturing, the back 18 is formed with rearwardly extending flanges completely 15 around the outer periphery thereof, so that flanges 33 and 34, and the other flanges at the sides of the case member 13 are formed of double thickness, partially by the flanges on the back member 18 and partially by the rearwardly extending portions of the top 16, sides 14 and 15 and 20 bottom 17.

As best seen in Fig. 3, the location of the front apertures 29 and 30 in top 16 is such that these apertures are formed adjacent the rear edge of spacing strip member 20. Further, the front surface of back member 18 is located 25 adjacent the rear edge of rear apertures 31 and 32, so that these apertures are forwardly adjacent back 18.

A preferably generally U-shaped cross-section back engagement member 35 is preferably secured to the top flange 33 formed by the top 16 and the back 18 prefer- ³⁰ably by welding or other usual fastening means. Engagement member 35 is preferably comprised of a lower forwardly extending leg member 36, a vertically extending leg member 37 and a forwardly extending upper leg member 38. ³5

The lower leg member 36 is positioned abutting the under surface of flange 33, with the inner side of leg 36 spaced rearwardly from the back surface of back 18. Vertical leg member 37 is connected to the back edge of lower leg 36 and extends upwardly thereof to a plane ⁴⁰spaced upwardly from the top surface of top 16, with upper leg member 38 connected to the upper end of vertical leg 37 and extending forwardly thereof.

Thus, a hook or forwardly flanged engagement member is formed by the vertical leg member 37 and upper leg 45 member 38 at the rear edge of top 16. Further, engagement member 35 is positioned on top 16 with no portion of member 35 extending over the longitudinal center line of top 16, so that when the case members 13 are positioned back to back, as best seen in Fig. 1, the various 50 engagement members 35 will not interfere with each other and so that only the single thickness of a vertical leg member 37 separates the back edges of the tops 16.

The bottom member 17 of case member 13 is formed with spaced downwardly projecting tabs 39 and 49, which 55 tabs extend downwardly in a vertical plane adjacent the rear edge of spacing strip member 20. Further, tabs 33 and 40 are vertically aligned with the front apertures 29 and 30.

In use of the above described construction of filing case 60 to form a filing cabinet comprised of a single stack of filing case members 13, these case members may be secured one above the other in the following manner.

A second filing case member 13 may be secured above a first filing case member 13 by engaging the bottom 65 flange 34 of the second case within the engagement member 35 beneath the forwardly extending upper leg 38 of the first case, and thereafter lowering the front portion of the second case downwardly until the tabs 39 and 40 of bottom 17 are received in the front apertures 29 and 70 30 of the first case. Thus, the second case is secured against horizontal movement in reference to the first case.

When, however, it is necessary to form a filing cabinet of a series of stacks of filing case members 13, with said stacks being positioned side by side or side by side and 75

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back to back, it is necessary to provide means for securing these various stacks together to form a single filing cabinet assembly. It is for this purpose that the single tie clip construction 11 and double tie clip construction 12 are provided.

Single tie clip construction 11, as shown in Fig. 5, is preferably formed of a one piece relatively thin gauge metal stamping and includes a body portion 41 and spaced downwardly projecting tabs 42 and 43. Body portion 41 is preferably flat having a width at least as great as the distance that the tabs 42 and 43 extend downwardly.

Tabs 42 and 43 are preferably formed at one side edge of body portion 41 and preferably extend downwardly a distance greater than the combined thicknesses of top 16 of filing case member 13, and the spacing strip member 20, for a purpose to be hereinafter described. Further, tabs 42 and 43 are spaced horizontally from each other a distance approximately equal to the distance between the nearest adjacent apertures of filing case members 13, when these case members are positioned side by side. Thus, when two case members are positioned side by side, the tabs 42 and 43 may be received in the nearest adjacent apertures, as shown in Fig. 1, with the body portion 41 spanning the distance between tabs 42 and 43, and securing the filing case members 13 in side by side position.

Double tie clip construction 12, as shown in Fig. 6, is comprised of a body portion 44, downwardly projecting front tabs 45 and 46, and downwardly projecting rear tabs 47 and 48. Double tie clip 12 is also preferably formed of a one piece relatively thin gauge metal stamping.

Tabs 45 and 46 preferably extend downwardly at the front edge of body portion 44, with tabs 47 and 48 extending downwardly at the rear edge thereof. Tabs 45 and 46 are spaced longitudinally the same distance as the tabs 42 and 43 of the single tie clip construction 11, with the tabs 47 and 48 spaced rearwardly from tabs 45 and 46 and also being similarly spaced longitudinally.

Thus, tabs 45 and 46 are longitudinally aligned, as are tabs 47 and 48, while tabs 46 and 48 are laterally aligned, as are tabs 45 and 47. The lateral distance between tabs 46 and 48, as well as between tabs 45 and 47, is substantially equal to the distance between the nearest adjacent rear apertures formed in the case tops 16, when several case members 13 are positioned back to back. Further, as described in reference to the single tie clip construction 11, the longitudinal distance between tabs 45 and 46 or between tabs 47 and 48 is substantially equal to the distance between the nearest adjacent apertures formed in the case tops 16 of several filing case members 13 positioned side by side.

Thus, as shown in Fig. 1, the double tie clip construction 12 may be used to secure together four stacks of filing case members 13 by positioning two stacks of these cases side by side and positioning a second pair of stacks back to back with the first two stacks. Thereafter, the double tie clip 12 may be positioned, as shown in Fig. 1, with each of the tabs 45, 46, 47 and 48 thereof received in the rear apertures in the central joining corner portions of the filing case members 13.

Further, the body portion 44 of double tie clip 12 spans the distance between laterally aligned rear apertures of filing case members positioned side by side, and also spans the distance between longitudinally aligned apertures of filing case members longitudinally aligned, thereby securing all four stacks of filing case members 13 in a unitary filing case cabinet assembly.

Thus, when it is necessary to form a filing cabinet assembly of laterally adjacent stacks of filing case members 13, single tie clips 11 are positioned between each of the cases of each of the laterally adjacent stacks, both in the front and rear apertures, with the single tie clip 12 received in the front apertures, with the body portion 41 thereof extending rearwardly and with the single tie clip 11 received in the rear apertures, with the body portion

2,825,614 '7 thereof extending forwardly. Further, these single tie clips 11 are so positioned in each of the tops 16 of each of the filing case members 13, so that the stacks are secured together at vertically spaced points determined by the height of each filing case member 13.

Still further, when the single tie clips 11 are so positioned at any particular layer of filing case members 13, even though the tabs 42 and 43 of the single tie clip 11 are positioned in the front apertures of the filing case members 13, these front apertures are of sufficient size to also receive the downwardly extending tabs 39 and 46 formed on the bottom 17 of the filing case members 13, as best seen in Fig. 4. Additionally, as shown, when the filing case members 13 are so positioned, the body portions 41 of the single tie clips 11 are abutted by the bottom 17 of the filing case member 13 positioned above, and by the top 16 of the filing case member positioned therebelow, thereby retaining said tie clips firmly in proper position.

Also, since the tab members 42 and 43 of the single tie clips 11 extend downwardly a greater distance than the combined thickness of the tops 16 and spacing strip members 28, the lowermost edge of tabs 42 and 43 is spaced downwardly from the portion of spacing strip member 20 that is received abutting the under surface of top 16. Thus, as the drawer member 21 is pulled horizontally outwardly, its horizontal movement is limited by the upper portion of the back end member 24 engaging one of these tabs 42 or 43, again as illustrated in Fig. 4. Further, the tabs 42 and 43 of the single tie clip received in the rear apertures of the filing case members 13 extend downwardly closely adjacent the back ends 18, so that these tabs do not, in any way, interfere with the horizontal movement of the drawer members 21.

When it is necessary to position additional stacks of filing case members 13 back to back with the first two stacks of these filing case members, the single tie clips 11 are still used received in the front apertures of the laterally adjacent stacks, as shown in Fig. 1, but the double tie clips 12 are used at each of the layers of filing case members 13, as before described and as shown in Fig. 1. The tabs 45, 46, 47 and 48 of these double tie clips 12, as was the case of the single tie clips 11, are received through the rear apertures closely adjacent the back ends 18 of the filing case members 13, so that these tab members in no way interfere with the horizontal movement of the drawer members 21. As in the case of the single tie clips 11, the body portions 44 of the double tie clips 12 are retained abutting the tops and bottoms of vertically adjacent filing case members 13, thereby retaining the tie clips in proper assembled position.

When the filing case members 13 of the present invention are positioned in vertical stacks to form filing cabinet assemblies, it is preferable to provide means positioned below the lowermost case member 13, in order to retain said lowermost case member spaced upwardly from a supporting surface, and to receive the downwardly extending tabs 39 and 48 positioned at the front portion of the case 17. Any usual stand means may be used for this purpose and as shown in Fig. 1, the supporting stand .49 may be of box-like construction having apertures formed in the top surface thereof, properly positioned to receive said case bottom tabs.

The principal requirement of the stand 49 is that it retain the lowermost case member 13 a sufficient distance from a supporting surface so that the weight of the stack of case members 13 is not supported by the case bottom tabs 39 and 40. Thus, as before stated, any usual stand means could be used such as individual leg members, front and rear edge supporting members or the like.

One of the primary advantages of the filing cabinet construction of the present invention is that the front apertures 29 and 30 and the rear apertures 31 and 32, formed in the case tops 16, may be positioned the same distances from the corners of said tops despite the particular size of the filing case being manufactured. Thus, the same size single tie clips 11 and double tie clips 12 may be used 5 for all sizes of filing cases, and it is not necessary to provide a different size tie clip for every different size of filing case being manufactured.

A further advantage is that the tie clips 11 are received in the same front apertures as are the tabs 39 and 10 45 formed on the case bottoms 17. The same means, therefore, is engaged by the tabs on the case bottoms to secure the various cases one above another as is engaged by the tie clips securing the cases side bv side.

A still further advantage is that the same rear apertures F’ on the case tops 16 may be engaged by the tabs of a single tie clip 11 to secure stacks of cases side by side, as may be engaged by the tabs of double tie clips 12 to secure stacks of cases both back to back and side by side. Thus, the filing cabinet construction of the present inven²⁰ tion is greatly simplified from the manufacturing aspect.

Finally, another advantage of the filing cabinet construction of the present invention is that the single tie clips 11, positioned in the front apertures of the case tops 16, serve the dual purpose of securing stacks of said cases side by side, and also form a stop member limiting the horizontal outward movement of the drawer members 21, thereby preventing drawer members 21 from being accidentally pulled completely horizontally out of case members 13. This feature is provided by the tabs 42 and 43 of the single tie clips 11 extending downwardly below the spacing strip member 20, so that the lower portions of these tabs are engageable by the back end members 24 of the drawer members 21, thus preventing further horizontal outward movement of drawer mem⁰ ber21.

Thus, the present invention provides a filing cabinet construction which overcomes the foregoing stated disadvantages of the prior constructions; in which each filing case has means permanently positioned thereon for securing a plurality of said cases one above the other in a single vertical stack; in which the same size tie clips may be used for securing stacks of the filing cases side by side regardless of the size of the filing cases; in which the same size tie clips may be used for securing stacks of the filing cases thereof back to back regardless of the size of said filing cases; in which the tie clips used to secured the filing cases thereof back to back, serve the dual purpose of also securing stacks of said filing cases side to _ side; in which the tie clips thereof may be positioned at ^{0 J} the front portions of the filing cases thereof for tying stacks of said cases side to side and which clips engage a portion of the same means which may be used to secure the filing cases of each stack one above the other; .... in which the tie clips thereof may be positioned at the front portions of the filing cases thereof for securing stacks of said cases side to side, which clips when engaged with the front portions of said cases, serve the dual purpose of securing the stack of cases side by side and also form front stop members engageable by the back portions of the filing case drawers, thereby preventing said drawers from being accidentally pulled completely out of said cases; and which provides all of these advantages in a simple manner, but yet which may be economically ₍... manufactured.

In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness and understanding, but no unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom, because such words are used for descriptive purposes herein and are intended to be broadly construed.

Moreover, the embodiments of the improved construction illustrated and described herein are by way of example, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown.